Kanye West - Diamonds from Sierra Leone

Post posvećen masi koja je bila na debatnom 'kampu' u Požegi. E da post posebno posvećen Dinu i Cerovcu, jer oni znaju zašto (a i vi ostali nagadjate) ;) Valjevcani, Beogradjani, Tijana (kao jedan od predstavnike iz Subotice koje je cula pesmu) evo zasto ima ta pesma: (nije mi se dalo prevoditi, lenj sam MaXiMalNo)When Raquel Cepeda first learned of the conflict in Sierra Leone back in 2001, she was working as the editor in chief of Russell Simmons' now-defunct One World magazine. In keeping with the publication's theme, she would find places around the globe where hip-hop had taken a foothold, and Sierra Leone's burgeoning scene grabbed her attention.But almost immediately, she knew a mere magazine article would not do the country's story justice. After all, this was a nation just emerging from a savage 11-year civil war — a conflict fueled by the diamond trade — and was in the early stages of recovery, picking through the rubble and trying to rebuild.And seemingly no one was paying attention."I felt that Sierra Leone was more than an article, because I saw these fascinating parallels," Cepeda said. "It was formed by freed slaves, and just at the time hip-hop started to become commercially successful here in the United States — in 1991 — [the Los Angeles district] Watts was burning, and this bloody civil war was beginning in Sierra Leone. So as the conflict was ending, and the aftermath was everywhere, I felt like it would be an interesting social experiment to have some rappers go there as goodwill ambassadors. Because hip-hop has affected every crevice of the world, and I wanted rappers to know that."And so Cepeda decided to make a documentary that would do just that: show rappers — and hip-hop fans — the connections between hip-hop and the Sierra Leone conflict.While her film does focus on the role music has played in the country's recovery — there's a vibrant hip-hop scene in the capital city of Freetown, highlighted by artists like Daddy Saj and Jimmy B — it's more concerned with the implications that came with the genre's bling obsession. She decided to call the film "Bling: A Planet Rock," because the insatiable thirst for diamonds was indirectly affecting the war in Sierra Leone."It's important to have it out there that the very uncivil war in Sierra Leone was not started over diamonds," Cepeda said. "It was fueled by them."In early 1991, a militant group called the Revolutionary United Front launched an insurgence against the government in Sierra Leone, attacking villages and committing unspeakable acts of barbarism against women and children. The militants hoped to throw the nation into a state of chaos, taking over the nation's diamond mines and using their riches to purchase drugs and weapons from neighboring nations. These diamonds became known as "conflict diamonds" — or blood diamonds — the same rocks Kanye West raps about in his song "Diamonds From Sierra Leone.""The film is not intended to make people stop wearing diamonds, because if we boycotted them, it would impair the fragile economy of Sierra Leone and would end up hurting these people," Cepeda said. "It's nobody's fault — the rappers, anyone — if they don't know they're wearing conflict diamonds. So we wanted to raise awareness about the whole issue. We wanted people to bling responsibly. We want rappers to rap about how it's cool to wear cruelty-free diamonds. And Kanye helped with that."West is interviewed in the film, as is Jadakiss, though neither artist was able to make the trip with Cepeda to Sierra Leone due to scheduling conflicts. But thanks to funds secured from the United Nations and VH1, she was able to secure three other hip-hop figureheads that knew very little about the country but were willing to learn: Paul Wall, Raekwon and reggaetón star Tego Calderón."Raekwon really bonded with everyone he met," Cepeda said. "He didn't know what to say at some points, because what he saw in Freetown or in the amputee villages left him speechless. Tego was amazed by what he saw, and Paul was literally walking around with his eyes wide open."Wall — who's gained acclaim not just for his rapping but for his diamond-encrusted grill — said he was amazed by what he saw, and he hopes the film will raise awareness about the past, present and future of Sierra Leone."Up until I heard Kanye's song 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone,' I had never even heard of the country," Wall said. "But once I did, I wanted to find out more, and I wanted to try to help out. So we went to Sierra Leone — me, Raekwon and Tego Calderón — and it changed our lives. We saw the diamond mines and the amputee camps, and it was hard to believe that especially in 2006, people can be living like this."When we were over there, it shocked and kind of embarrassed us as jewel wearers, but the people over there told us not to stop wearing them," he continued. "The thing is, that's how people eat. Even to this day, there's a large percentage of illicit diamonds in the marketplace, even though the conflict in Sierra Leone is over. So you want to be careful and get them through the proper channels. I know I'm trying to do that now."Cepeda will wrap production on "Bling" later this year, and she hopes to make the festival rounds in the winter.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Hip hop honeys – featuring Ciara

This young girl was born on October 25, in 1985. Swooping around to find her bio everything starts with "Her father was in military, so she traveled a lot" well... Uhm nice... Military MAN! So from her early years she wanted to be a professional singer. So guess what? - She joined a girl group (wow...) called Hearsay, worked on her songwriting, eventually left the group, and of course as the story goes - she got herself a publishing deal.

So Ciara (BTW when you read it correctly it sounds like Sierra) - have you heard of her before?Her single - "Goodies" was a hit. It was a hit world wide (including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Sweden and... A yeah - New Zealand). Her first album was called Goodies (guess by her first song). On this album you can find ppl like Pha, Garrett, and Lil Jon and this one sold over 2mil copies just in the US. Her next song - "1, 2 step" was done with Missy Elliott and - it was a hit (again). Next single she did was with Ludacris called "Oh", and you can find her DVD with stuff from that time called "Goodies: The Videos & More" (here are some behind the scenes stuff, comments and you know, stuff...).

And then blah blah single with Bow Wow ("like you") and blah blah Gwen Stefani blah blah, Oh - her forth single was poorly rated (for a change ;) )

In the end of 2005 Ciara went on a tour with Bow Wow (wow...) and Chris Brown at some jam. This was her biggest live performance.

Oh BTW she ended up in Michael Jackson's charity single - "I have a dream" (not sure what kind of dreams he has, but he's not the point of this article) which will be released somewhere in 2006.

On February 8, 2006 Ciara got her first Grammy with Missy Elliott for Best Short Form Music Video. She did a duo with that dude from Maroon 5 - a tribute to legendary R&B musician Sly Stone.

She is working on her next album that will be "much deeper and more personal" and from stuff read between the lines she says it will be a good one (let's hope so).

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Music man...

If you listen to rap... And you just don't know what music to get? Read on...

So you actually don't know what to listen to? Have serious problems choosing music to listen to? Seek no more -> former audioscrobbler now last.fm is a choice for you! It analyzes your music style through a winamp plugin and recommends you fresh new artists and songs...

Friday, May 19, 2006

Hip hop jewelry? WTF?

So hip hop jewelry… What’s that? Actually it’s quite strange to be considered jewelry but if it’s fine with you I don’t care…

Let’s get to the point – What’s hip hop jewelry?

Do you consider stuff on the pictures in this post to be "hip hop jewelry" - well maybe those chains are, but most of them are not - most of them are just simple ornaments that can NOT be considered as any part of hip hop style... I mean COME ON people - steering-wheel is just too much... If you're a hopper you not a sailor...

You can consider hip hop "jewelry" to be stuff that you wear hip hop style. As simple as that. Not anything fancy, not anything that makes you feel that you look stupid, not something that you wear because some salesman said that it is “hip hop jewelry”… I mean come on, they would sell their soul just to make sales, so writing “hip hop jewelry” on anything doesn’t look so bad, does it?

Somthing that is Bling Bling (like Ali G's 'movie') doesn't have to be cool... And it's the same stuff that can be found anywhere else, just cheeper. So remember - Bling Bling is not a way to go. Get it?

So what can be considered as a part of your style (not just jewelry)? Well practically anything that you see fit. Get it? Try getting lost in those skate shops, they have nice stuff, I mean be creative and don’t be naïve. Don’t over-pay stuff and improvise… Oh and don't let them sell you ideas that something that is obviously fancy...